Burner pot pilot



Feb. 491958 J. M. REDMOND 2,822,036

BURNER POT PILOT Filed Jan. 26, 1955 IN V TOR.

BY dwrza? ATTORNEY United States Patent BURNER POT PILOT John M. Redmond, Wichita, Kans., assiguor to The Cole- Ean Company, Inc., Wichita, Kans., a corporation of ansas Application January 26, 1955, Serial No. 484,117

4 Claims. (Cl. 158--91) This invention relates to a burner pot pilot, and is particularly useful with an oil burner of the vaporizing pot type.

The present application is directed to a pot pilot similar to that of my copending application, Serial No. 429,755, filed May 14, 1954.

Pilot boxes within pot burners have been heretofore used, but have met with unsatisfactory results for a number of reasons. Sudden downcurrents of air in a pot burner often extinguish the pilot flame, and, if the flame is enlarged so as to withstand such currents, too much fuel is consumed by the pilot during the standby periods. Even with sturdy pilot flames, it is extremely diiflcult to prevent extinguishing of the flame during the severe downcurrent conditions experienced in an oil burning pot burner. Further, there is a tendency for the oil to creep from under the pilot walls where they abut the pot bottom, and incomplete and smoky combustion outside the pilot enclosure results and in many instances the pilot is damaged by overheating. And there is further a problem of obtaining within the confined area of the pilot chamber effective combustion for supporting the flame with a minimum of vapor while at the same time effectively projecting the flame from the burner box toward the center of the pot.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the problems presented above and to provide an effective pilot burner which with a minimum amount of fuel is effective in providing the flame when needed, while at the same time maintaining the flame in a sheltered and reversed position during the period when there are heavy downcurrents of air. Another object is to provide effective means for preventing the creeping of oil from under the bottom edges of the pilot structure and the attendant disadvantages flowing therefrom. A still further object is to provide a structure in which air jets are directed inwardly within the pilot chamber so as to collide and produce high turbulence, effectively mixing the air and oil vapor to maintain a flame while using a minimum amount of vapor, the foregoing combination being also eifective for propelling the air-oil vapor mixture out of the pilot chamber and toward the center of the pot with considerably more velocity. Other specific objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is shown, in the illustrative embodiment,

a by the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a broken, top plan view of a burner pot equipped with a pilot burner embodying my invention, a portion of the structure being shown in section; Fig. 2, an enlarged broken sectional view, the section being taken as indicated at line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a perspective view of the pilot burner box employed; Fig. 4, a

perspective view of the component parts of the pilot having an open top and a closed bottom 11. The pot may be provided centrally with the usual pilot ring 12.

The upper portion may be provided with air openings 13' in spaced rows, and air openings 14 in one or more rows may be provided below the bafile ring 12. The burner pot is provided also with the usual oil inlet pipe 15,'and the portion of the pot adjacent the inlet pipe 15 may be slightly depressed at 16 to form a channel. The burner bottom 11 preferably is inclined toward the center of the pot so that the oil feeds through the pilot box and In the construction shown,='

toward the center of the pot. the burner pot is made up of a lower section 17, which is slightly offset at its top to receive the lower edge of Y the upper cylindrical portion 18. Since the pot burner open at its bottom. A top wall 21 has a depending front ledge 22 and side ledges 23, which may be spot welded" or otherwise secured to the side walls 19. Within the box provided by the side walls 19 and top wall 21, there is secured a U-shaped partition 27 having an upper segmental rear wall 24 which is secured to the cylindrical wall 18 of the burner pot by means of a bolt 25 and nut or threaded button 26. Integrally formed with the segmental rear wall portion 24 are the inclined wings or partitions 28, which extend to the top wall of the box A and form with the side walls air chambers 29, as shown best'in Figs. 1 and 5. Air enters the air chambers 29 through ports 30 in the cylindrical wall 18, as shown best in Figs. 1 and 5.

Thediverging wings or partitions 28 extend forwardly to the front portion of the box, and the end portions thereof are turned laterally to provide flanges 31 which are welded to or secured to the flanges 20 of the side walls 19, as indicated best in Fig. 1.

The lower sides of the wings or partitions 28 are provided with a plurality of perforations 32 so that air from the chamber 29 may enter therethrough into a central pilot chamber 33 in the lower portion of the box A.

Bridging the wing partitions 28 above the perforations 32 is an imperforate baffle or wall 34. The baffle is preferably provided with upwardly-extending side flanges 35 which may be welded to the wings or partitions 28.

With the foregoing structure, there is provided a pair of side air chambers 29 to which air is fed through the openings 30, and from thence the air passes downwardly and through the side openings 32 and into the chamber .33, where the currents of air collide and produce a turbulent flow. The chamber 30 diverges outwardly toward the outlet so as to direct the mixed air and vapors toward the lower central portion of the burner pot.

Operation In the operation of the pilot burner, the fuel flows through pipe 15 and into the channel 16 at the bottom of the box. From thence the oil or other fuel flows outwardly toward the center of the burner pot. For the purpose of the pilot, a very small flow is sufficient to provide vapors for the pilot flame. Air enters through the openings 30 in the pot wall and into the side chambers 29, which tend to narrow as they approach the front of the box. The air within the chamber is thus forced inwardly through the openings 32 in the bottom of the partitions or wings 28, and as the air streams move into the burner chamber 33, they collide and set up a turbulent flow, bringing about intimate mixing of the air and vapors. The angular arrangement of the wings or par- Patented Feb. 4, 1958- 3 titions cooperates fu'rtherinpropelling the air-oil vapor mixture out of the forward aperture of the chamber 33 and toward the center of the pot, with very high velocity. It is also found that the streams of air passing inwardly towardilie pool of oil in'the botto'm of the chamber33 opposetheiundesirableflow'of oil in the direction of the side walls, and thus: prevent the oil from creeping out beneath the side edges of the pilot box or structure.

The flame produced'by the foregoing extends forwardly fromthe chamber 33and toward the center of the burner potso as to effectively ignite the oil within the bottom of: thepot. However should there be excessive downflow currents, .the flame leaves the chamber 33 and burns within the side air chambers 29,.as shown more clearly in Figs. 1 and 5, vthe tongues of flame being indicated by the numeral 36; The foregoing structure is also highly effective-in directing the air downwardly into close juxtaposition to theoil pool, so as to constantly sweep the top of thepooland, by reason of the impact of the oppositely directedstreams, to produce a turbulent air condition over thepool of oil for effectively mixing the oil vapors and air.

While, in' theforegoing specification, I have set'forth a specific structure in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that such details of structure may be varied widely by those skilled in the 'art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I'claim:

1. In combination with an oil 'pot burner having an oil inlet opening and air openings, a pilot box having an open rearside supportedv adjacent the burnerwall to form an enclosure about said oil inlet opening and air openings, vertical partitions within said pilot box providing side compartments communicating with said air openings, a

horizontal partition extending between said side partitionsandforming an oilvapor chamber communicatingwith said oil 'inlet, said pilot box being open at theforward end .of said oil vapor chamber, said side partitions being 4 provided along their lower sides adjacent said oil vapor chamber with air openings whereby air streams are directed into the oil vapor chamber to impinge upon each other and create a turbulent flow, and said air inlet openings permitting the flame to be reversed and to burn within the side chambers when there are excessive downfiow currents within the burner.

2. The structure of claim 1, in which the side partition walls form, with the sidewalls of the pilot box, a chamber of narrowing cross section toward the forward end of' the box. I

3. The structure of claim 1, in which the side partitions flare outwardly from the rear to the forward ends thereof.

4. In combination with an oil pot burner equipped at its bottom with an oil inlet and having a channel adapted to receive the incoming oil, said pot having also air inlets above the oil inlet, a pilot box open at its rear side mounted'in position to'form an enclosure about said oil inlet and air inlets, vertical partition walls within the box forming air chambers along the sides of the box, a horizontal wall between said partition walls and spaced above the bottom of the pot to provide an oil and air-oil vapor mixing chamber, said partition walls on either side of said chamber being provided with spaced openings for admission ofai-r into'said chamber, said openings directing air into said chamber from the opposite sides thereof to produce turbulence within said chamber, said box having an opening in the front wall thereof aligned with said air-oil vapor chamber so that flame may extend outwardly from said chamber, said partition openings permitting'a reversal of flame within said air chambers when there is a sudden downcurrent of air in the pot burner.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

